The somber night was quiet.
Fireflies glowed, cicadas made noises, and the wind blew weakly yet swaying the trees softly.
One could say that it was a cold night, maybe the coldest so far... even in the summer.
The grassy fields were moist, pertaining to the cold breeze of the somber night. The lights were already turned off hours ago, and the people inside the dormitories lay asleep and defenseless.
Most of them consisted of people whose homes were quite far away, but there were also some that found comfort in staying inside the dormitories.
One of these people is Lei, who was walking faintly in the halls of the dormitories.
Apparently, she enjoyed the soothing silence of the night, gazing upon the bright moon shining amidst the dark sky.
She whispered quietly, thinking that no one would hear her. As she walked through the silent halls of the dormitory, she suddenly heard a faint echo.
Pointing the flashlight forward, she ignored the immediate echo in the halls.
"Just the wind.."
She went down the stairs and onto the benches at the dormitory lounge. Seeing the vibrant grass turn dark and silent, Lei decided to bask herself in their soft comfort.
"No one is around anyway!"
There were a couple of lights that dimmed the place but the perfect mix between radiance and darkness felt very comforting for the likes of Lei.
She laid down the soft grass and stared at the bright moon.
"O, Moon.. how I've admired you from such far distances."
Unlike a flower basking itself in sunlight, Lei absorbed the radiance of the moonlight.
It was tranquil.
A pure form of bliss that only Lei could feel, a feeling of joy that overwhelmed her whenever she stared at the elegance of the moon.
Nothing could ever take this away from her. It was a moment tailored only for her and her alone.
So... what was it that she heard from behind?
*thud*
A resounding echo of a distant footstep.
*thud*
Faintly getting closer.
*thud*
Getting louder.
*thud*
Softly creeping up.
*thud*
It's close.
*thud*
It's right behind you.
Lei jolted straight up, clearly alarmed at the sound of a near footstep behind her.
"What was that?!"
She turned around and... saw nothing.
Just the everlasting scenery of a dim building.
She sighed, relieved that a guard or a Knight had not caught her sneaking outside of the curfew. She felt an overwhelming sense of bliss because she was alone in the dark yet shining fields of grass.
Yet... why is her heart beating faster?
Was it Adrenaline? Fear? Excitement? Joy? or perhaps...
"Save me."
Terror.
"WAKE UP!"
*
Veritas saw the dream.
A dream where a young girl was abducted by an unknown being.
To him, dreams were as powerful as it can get, it provided him a glimpse into the future and helped him prevent a dire outcome.
Then, he woke up from the dream.
He looked towards the direction of the caged cat. It's eyes were closed, and it laid down the comforts of its cage.
'Is he asleep?'
Veritas moved over to the front of the cage.
"Bello?"
No response.
Veritas tried nudging the cat, yet it wouldn't move a budge.
"So much for the Beast King, I guess.."
He wasted no time in waking up Bello and walked towards the door.
On the wall, the clock's small hand hit the direction of the number 12 and its long hand was 1 digit away from 12.
But it never seemed to move, even after Veritas had been gone for hours.
*
Veritas ran as fast as he could!
Whatever he saw in the dream is somehow related to the mysterious disappearance of that string-user.
"Why are these damn halls so long?!"
It was like the halls back in the castle, their length added to their elegance yet it was an inconvenience when you needed to rush!
"Damn! What the hell is happening?!"
Veritas ran like the Winds, his Soul partially refreshed due to his well-rested sleep.
Within minutes of non-stop running, Veritas finally reached the lounge where he saw the girl in a dream.
He rushed down the stairs and investigated the spot where she once sat.
"Not here! Not there either! Damn!"
Veritas went through the door that led to the courtyard. This was where she laid down on the soft grass.
Luckily enough, Veritas found a perfectly-shaped figure of a girl, carved into the grass.
*thud!*
A large and loud footstep resounded in the distance!
"What the hell was that?! I must go there quickly! I need to activate Windsong first, maybe Will of the Winds later when things get dire. Galebreathe is essential here! Argh- Damn it Bello, why are you sleeping right now?!"
Gazing upon his Soul and using Windsong and Galebreathe, Veritas felt his lungs fill up with air that circulated the blood in his body quickly.
Windsong boosted his overall speed when he ran towards the sound of the footstep.
"It's behind the dormitory! I can sense it! I'll use Visionshaper to hide myself!"
Donning the previous disguise of black cloak and a faceless mask exposing his crimson-red eye, Veritas ran like the Winds and was pacing very quickly!
"Please make it! Please! I have to save that girl!"
"It would approximately take me a couple of seconds to get there if I kept up my pace, but what about my Soul? When I gazed upon it earlier, it still looked abundant.. I don't have to worry about that for now, I'll expend as much Soul as I need later!"
Veritas reached the back of the building.
"Here it is! Has there always been a forest there!?"
Veritas saw a wide array of trees formed together into a deep cluster. The forest looked ominous and dangerous yet Veritas could not quite discern whether there used to be a forest there or not.
"There's a wide array of trees there! It looks ominous and dangerous but what the hell?! I can't remember a forest being back there!"
"Fuck it! I'll go straight through!"
He sped through the grass, each distance that he covered it grew more overgrown. Until finally.. it was as tall as Veritas, perhaps even taller.
"God damn! Why are these grasses so long? Are they taller than me?! Wind Cut! Wind Cut!"
Using Wind Cut, Veritas cut the grasses in half, improving his visuals better. However.. they seemed to last eternity!
It didn't look like Veritas was going to reach the forest anytime soon!
"Damn! I can't reach the forest at this rate! I'll keep using Wind Cut, then another, and another. Once I've reached the forest, I'll go ahead and engage in battle. I should be very wary though, it might be a being of Pure Soul. I don't think I can handle that yet- Wait, Why are my thoughts so loud?!"
To his surprise, Veritas came to a realization that his mouth had not moved a single time at all!
"Why... are my thoughts so loud?"
He halted, and stood still.
"Is this some work of a Pathbearer? But who? What? Where?! Argh- stop thinking! It's so loud! No.. don't, I need to figure this out!"
"These grass seems to be never-ending. Perhaps I should return.. but what about that girl? And those footsteps?"
"I have no time to think! Body, go! Move!"
Veritas ran back from whence he came, rushing through the cut grass and heading towards the dim dormitory.
He arrived shortly.
"I have to wake Bello up. I need an extra head to deal with this!"
He went through the courtyard, the lounge, and then up the stairs. Veritas ran through the long hall and searched for Bello's room.
"There it is! Alright, come on!"
He opened the door and was greeted by the familiar somber sight of Bello's room.
It was as clean as ever, and there was a sleeping orange cat inside a cage.
"Bello! Wake up! Wake the fuck up! Come on!"
However! Veritas' mouth never opened, and the words only came up in his head.
"Damn it! What should I do? Shake the cage? I'll try that."
Veritas shook the cage hard in an attempt to wake up the cat but it was to no avail.
"I know! I'll imitate my voice using the Winds and then wake him up. Surely it would work.. Surely.. Windsong.."
Veritas' eyes were suddenly wide open.
"How.. Did I use Windsong?"
"Windsong needs my voice to work, but.. I can't seem to let my voice out, just what the hell is happening?!"
"Let me try this.. Wind Cut!"
A high-pitch sound suddenly echoed across the room.
"It worked!"
"But I didn't speak!"
"Wait. Let me try this."
Veritas thought of having a metal ball suddenly appear in his hand. Suddenly! A metal ball really did appear right in his hand!
"It really worked! Is this perhaps.."
"A seemingly long stretched hall, an infinite amount of tall grass, conjuring up everything that I can think of, and..."
Veritas stared at the analog clock hanging on the wall.
He waited.. and waited.. not knowing how much time passed, yet.. the clock never moved from 11:59 PM.
"Time never passes.."
Veritas stared at the sleeping cat, his eyes grew even more wider.
"I'm dreaming!"
Instantaneously, Veritas shifted his head towards the clock and it.. moved!
The long hand slowly moved towards the digit of 12.
*tick*
*tick*
*tick*
*tick*
*tick*
Everything felt illusory, dark, and hazy.
"Am I waking up? Finally.."
Veritas accepted the situation and didn't move his body an inch.
When suddenly, whispers got louder in his head.
All of them said in unison:
"WAKE UP!"